Beet It

For this month's Mixology Monday, host Rowen of Fogged In Lounge tapped into the health conscious minds of cocktail enthusiasts when he put forth the following descriptor for his theme, Drink Your Vegetables...


Want to get more vegetables but you’re always eating on the run?… Well then, how about a vegetable cocktail? No, not that nice little glass of red stuff Grandma put at each place setting—we’re talking something with a kick in it. You can definitely start with the little glass of red stuff and expand it to a Red Snapper-style drink like a Bloody Mary. Or how about a cucumber-scented cooler like a Pimm’s Cup, or maybe a cocktail featuring a vegetable-based ingredient like Cardamaro or celery bitters? Maybe you’ve been wondering if you can get more mileage out of that juice extractor before consigning it to the garage sale. However you get them in that glass, be prepared for the most fun with vegetables ever.


It is times like these that I appreciate the fact that my wife convinced me (us) to get a legit juicer. Tho when she sees me in the kitchen, she knows I'm not prepping a super healthy shake, rather it's mise en place for a new cocktail.  Over the last year or so, I've taken on tomato, celery and carrot...so this time around I ventured down a different path with the veg that stains like no tomorrow...beet. Earthy, subtly sweet, and possessing a very 'vegetal' quality when consumed straight from the juicer, it seemed a natural partner with that Brazilian spirit that unfortunately doesn't get a ton of use outside of the Caipirinha...cachaça.  The particular bottle I used for this cocktail was Leblon, a fantastic cachaça which is distilled from fresh sugar cane juice in Brazil and then shipped to France for aging up to 3 months in used Cognac casks.  It possess a nice balance of light fruity notes, as well as an underlying earthiness that I thought would complement the beet juice very well.  Along for the ride, a blend of lemon, Cointreau, and ginger syrup to brighten it up, accentuate the fruit, and give just a hint of ginger heat.  


Beet Down in Brazil
2 oz Leblon cachaça
3/4 oz fresh beet juice
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/4 oz ginger syrup*

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until well chilled. Double strain into a pre-chilled cordial cocktail glass. Finish with a nice twist of lemon zest.

*Equal parts freshly juiced ginger root and sugar

Beet Down in Brazil

Many thanks go out to Rowen at Fogged In Lounge for hosting this month's Mixology Monday and getting me to drink my veggies...and thankfully, no whites were ruined during the making of this cocktail.  As always, be sure to check back soon for the roundup of all the great concoctions from other contributors.